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Again, rain is forecast in the next day or two, and I wanted to get up there before it got muddy again. The morning started well. A Red-shouldered Hawk took off from the first oak down the trail, and there was quite a bit of activity in the dip including hearing two White-throated Sparrows. I was looking forward to sitting there on the way back and listening more, but on return the overcast had thickened and everyone seemed have hunkered down. The California Quail came out, but no sparrows, and non warblers anywhere. The north end of the trail was similarly quiet, although there was a (silent) Say's Phoebe and two beautiful Western Bluebirds. ( The list: )

The day's real significance was in the collapse of a huge snag, dead for some years, at the north end of the trail. I've been expecting it to go, and there was a lot of wind with the not-much-rain of last week. I'll miss it. It was a landmark, very tall, and a handy place for Spring migrants to land as they came over the ridge.

trobadora

In order of deadlines:

Fic in a Box: I'm deep into the rewriting/editing and can't talk about any of it without breaking anonymity. *g* Reveals were supposed to be Saturday night, but we'll know by tomorrow morning whether there'll be a delay. It's looking very likely, and honestly, I'm not complaining.

Yuletide: Only a very vague idea so far. Once FIAB is over I'll do thorough canon revision (thankfully it's not one of the fandoms where that would take me fifty million hours), hammer out a proper plot, and then there'll be plenty of time left to actually write. It helps that December will be less busy at work again!

Five Figure Fanwork Exchange: Until today I only had a very vague idea of "I want to do something in that era of canon that my recipient mentioned", but today I went on a walk during my lunch break and a concept popped into my head fully-formed. I still need to figure out about half the plot, but that's for after Yuletide. (Unless it just pops into my head like this too! I wouldn't complain. *g*)

Other writing: Ahahaha, what other writing? I have no time and so many things to do. RL is so busy right now ... /o\

mrkinch

Every week I expect to be the last passable week, and in fact bits of Lower Packrat Trail were slippery today; this mud is completely unlike the mud on Inspiration Trail.:) It was beautiful weather and when I got to the bench the air suddenly became quite warm. The morning got off to a strange start when ten or so Wild Turkeys flew across the gorge over our heads! That is a rare occurrence, and we were all confused for a bit, trying to figure out what birds they were. ( The list: )

Fun with merlin: I heard a rather strange call, like a Purple Finch but raspy and much less variable than usual. Merlin suggested two unexpected Vireos as well Purple Finch, so if anyone reports one of those Vireos in Tilden in the next couple of days, I'll change my list.:)

siria

I watched all of S5 of Only Murders in the Building, but more out of a sense of duty than anything else. Anaemic, rote; I don't think had any answer to the question of "Why is this being made?" I won't be tuning in for the next season.

( Mississippi Masala )

( Woman King )

mrkinch

Yesterday morning U drove us all to Vincent Park to look, briefly, for the Harlequin Duck that's been reported roosting on the shore of Brooks Island. A scope is required, and U owns a very good one. We didn't find the Harlequin duck and the usual ducks have not yet arrived in numbers, but it was great to be out looking. Three Black-bellied Plovers flew over, calling, and there was one large Grebe and one small one.:) It seems to me that the season is slow in starting, but I probably just don't remember (and have not looked it up). ( A short list: )

The Great Egret was perched on the "Keep Out" sign on the Island.:) Inspired by that hour I went down to walk around Berkeley Meadow and check out the Sea Breeze Market Cove mudflat. I found so few birds in Berkeley Meadow aside from many White-crowns and a few Golden-crowns, that I don't think I'll submit a list. There was just one little Bufflehead in North Basin. The mudflat was covered in gulls with a very few shorebirds and a half a dozen American Wigeon in the channel. Oh, and my first two American Coots of the season. ( Two even shorter lists together: )

Still not worth a list, I think.

sage

( books: Osman, Vance, Osman )

yarning yay
I went to yarn group on Sunday and there was such good turnout, even though several people couldn't make it. It was really nice. I learned that one of my kickbunny customers has a puzzle game where her cat pushes a button to request certain toys, and she requests her kickbunny ALL the time! So heartwarming! She also sent a pic of the cat lying with her head on the bunny. Too sweet! I also gave five hats and a scarf to a yarn group member who volunteers at BoysTown/Boysville (a shelter for kids--with residential family situations, not dormitories). The yarning will go straight to the kids, not their thrift shop, so that's doubly wonderful. Also, I found a missing safety eye that I'd searched high and low for. Not high enough, apparently, as it was ON my workbench, not on the floor despite having clearly heard it bounce!

yarning boo
The reversible doll pattern I was using to make niece's xmas gift has a major flaw in the pattern & I'm really pissed off about it. I could wing it and make it work, or else I could just frog it and make something else for her entirely. Undecided.

( yarning Lestat )

healthcrap
still under the weather. More nausea. I quit coffee, because it was a direct nausea trigger, and it is so weird to be caffeine-free; it's torn up my whole morning routine. As far as the insomnia, I was going to sleep around midnight (boo!) and waking for hours in the madrugada (double boo!), only to sleep til ten once I finally drifted off. Then the clock change knocked me back onto schedule, I hope. The morning nausea continues, though. And today I felt so rotten I actually napped for ninety minutes. Weird.

( rl gah )

mercury retrograde
starts this ~~Friday~~ Sunday in Sagittarius, then moves into Scorpio in about ten days, IIRC. At least this year it ends before the Yuletide deadline instead of being dead on it & crashing the AO3 servers. Fun times. Mars is also in Sagittarius, as of yesterday, so our tendency to behave like the arrow (not the archer, the *arrow*) zooming through spacetime is super heightened. Try to pace yourself & refrain from jumping to conclusions.

I hope all of y'all are doing well! <333

trobadora

Has Youtube been driving everyone else batty too with the auto-dubbed videos? At least you can manually switch the audio track to the original - but now it's auto-translating the video descriptions too, and I haven't yet found out how to get back to the original there.

It makes me want to scream. Who thinks that's a good idea?! Not anyone who speaks smore than one language, that's for sure - and even then! AAARGH.

I searched in hopes of finding some way to disable this nonsense, and found no way on Youtube itself, but there's a browser extension that gets you back to original audio and description!

Firefox version | Chrome version

It says it doesn't work on mobile, but I don't watch videos on mobile, so that doesn't matter to me much. And either way, better than nothing. *grumbles some more*

mood aggravated

mrkinch

I had much more fun this morning than last time! It was mostly sunny, no wind, and the trail was completely dry. The California Quail were out on the trail and there were Western Bluebirds, House Finches, and several Yellow-rumped Warblers at the north end of the trail, a colorful lot. Surprise birds were a Say's Phoebe on the way out and a Black Phoebe on return, but the biggest surprise was two White-throated Sparrows with the Golden-crowned Sparrows under the big oak in the dip, not far from where I sit on the bank. I was afraid I'd scared them off, but they reappeared, together, beautiful bright individuals, such a great contrast with the Golden-crowns. ( The list: )

This may have been my last visit for a while if it actually rains tomorrow, but who knows?

trobadora

rarepairexchange author reveals happened this night! I wrote Word of Honor femslash. :D

It was great to revisit Word of Honor - I need to find time for a full rewatch at some point! It's still so good. And I'm still so delighted with the women of Ghost Valley and all the thematic depth the drama added just by including them. Also, Ghost Valley worldbuilding is a lot of fun to play with!

(I'm a bit bummed out that almost no one seems to have read the fic, in what definitely wasn't a ship of two the last time I checked. But my recipient liked it, so there's that!)

Anyway, here's some backstory about Liu Qianqiao's early days in Ghost Valley:

**

forgetting any other tie but this (5410 words)
Fandom: 山河令 | Word of Honor (TV 2021)
Rating: Mature
Relationship: Liu Qianqiao/Luo Fumeng
Content Tags: Backstory, Canon Compliant, Getting Together, Ghost Valley, Ghost Valley Politics, Department of the Unfaithful, Worldbuilding, cameos by Wen Kexing and Gu Xiang, and several original Ghost characters

Summary: Something was wrong with Xi Sang Gui, and Liu Qianqiao couldn't simply sit and wait.

siria

( The Myth of Fingerprints )

( Practical Magic )

( Twinless )

mrkinch

I finally got down to South Richmond Marshes after weeks of failing to do so for no good reason, and while I enjoyed it, I'm glad I didn't go sooner. I'm probably forgetting the schedule of Fall arrivals (I should look it up) and it was early afternoon not early morning, but I was surprised at how few land birds I saw. I remember the path from parking to slough as being quite birdy, but literally no one today. I knew the ducks weren't in yet in any numbers and I was late in the tidal cycle for many shorebirds, but I saw a shortish list of species. A Common Yellowthroat in that location was a surprise, although the habitat is right, and it was fun to see three American White Pelican flying overhead, closer than usual but still pretty far away. ( The list: )

The most disconcerting thing about this foray was the driving. ( cut for stuff about me and cars )

siria

Bedding Down
The Pitt | Jack/Robby | ~2000 words | Thanks to

trinityofone for betaing.

(Also on AO3)

( Robby thinks his mattress is perfectly fine. Jack begs to differ. )

mrkinch

It rained briefly earlier in the week, and I only got as far as the corner due to the mud load on my shoes. So the list is a bit short but there were Western Bluebirds, Varied Thrush, Hermit Thrush, and American Robins - that's all four thrushes! - and a large flock of Golden-crowned Sparrows. Then when I'd cleaned off my shoes for the second time and went to stand under the big oak in the dip, suddenly it was very birdy indeed for five or ten minutes, which is what I live for.:) ( The list: )

It's not forecast to rain so I'll try again in a few days.

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aesc

December 2012

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Page generated Nov. 13th, 2025 07:35 am

in that sweet and peaceful rest

reading

11/11/2025 Inspiration Trail

Writing update

11/10/2025 Lower Packrat Trail

2557 / Mississippi Masala; Woman King

11/7/2025 Vincent Park // 11/08/2025 Berkeley Meadow

What I'm Doing Wednesday

Youtube

11/4/2025 Inspiration Trail

FIC: forgetting any other tie but this (Word of Honor: Liu Qianqiao/Luo Fumeng) [M]

2556 / Myth of Fingerprints; Practical Magic; Twinless

10/31/2025 Meeker Slough

2555 / Fic - The Pitt

10/30/2025 Inspiration Trail

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December 2012

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